Language Research Bulletin, 22, ICU, Tokyo
“As the Book Says” and Similar Expressions
in Middle English Alliterative Verse
Yasuyo Moriya
English Language Program
International Christian University
This essay examines the formulaic expression, “as the book says” in
Middle English (ME) alliterative verse. Occupying the entire second
half-line and being free from the alliteration constraint in its final
metrical beat, the clause provides a useful device to meet the metrical
requirements as well as to increase the credibility of the source from
which the poet adapted the story. Various examples that include “as
the book says” and similar expressions suggest that the underlying
structure of recurring phrases in the first half-line is lexical while that
in the second half-line is syntactic. The ME alliterative poets do not
rely on prefabricated phrases but use similar collocation patterns in
order to increase repetitive mode in alliterative verse.
This essay examines the role of the phrase “as the book says” and similar
expressions that appear in the second half-line of Middle English (ME)
alliterative verse. Though lexical items vary from line to line, the collocation
pattern, namely what kinds of words appear in what order, is almost fixed as
seen in the following examples:
A 17
A 35
A 278
That was the athill Alexsandire, as the buke tellis,
Thus ware thai breued for the best, as the buke tellis;
In the first compas I ken, as me the claus tellis,
Middle English Alliterative Verse
This collocation pattern of “as + Noun + Verb” can be found in every major
alliterative poem of the fourteenth century. The phrase should be a useful device
to meet metrical requirements because the second beat of the second half-line,
which is the line-final beat at the same time, is free from the alliteration
constraint. In other words, the line-final stressed syllable does not need to
alliterate, and allows the poet to repeat the same verb in the line-final position.
This leads to the idea that the expression, “as the book says,” occupying the
second half-line, is habitual and may function as a syntactic formula. The second
half-line, according to Cable, Duggan, and Putter and Stokes, is governed by
strict metrical rules. Determining what collocations are possible and how lexical
elements may vary, as Ringbom argues, will reveal a special function of such
phrases.
It was Oakden who first commented on the use of “tags” that seem to fill out
the lines according to metrical necessities. He argues that these tags may be a
direct cause of similar expressions especially in the second half-line. Hartle (23)
explains that these “tags” may not be lexically identical but share a basic pattern
of both form and meaning, which establishes a more than casual relationship
between them. The poets are concerned about the metrical correctness and rely on
the repetitious use of similar forms. In this sense common terms to denote such a
metrical syntactic pattern, such as “tags,” “clichés,” “fillers,” or even
“unnecessary repetition” may not be adequate (Moriya, “Oakden”). More
recently scholars, as seen in the articles by Schaefer and by Smith, for instance,
have acknowledged the significance of similar collocations of words and
common meaning.
Oakden in Part IV (381-91) lists seven common “tags.” The following is the
list of these recurring tags with two examples from those that Oakden himself
uses:
(1) The use of an infinitive in the second half-line, preceded by a word
beginning with the required alliterative sound:
Ages 115 Longe legges and large, and lele for to schewe.
J 641
Kesten ded vpon ded was deil to byholde
Middle English Alliterative Verse
(2) ––– men of armes
MA 1537 Fyfty thosaunde on felde of ferse men of armez,
MA 1710 Fifty thosandez of folke of ferse men of armez,
(3) ––– of deeds
Ages 528 And gud Sir Gy de Burgoyne, full gracyous of dedis;
Ages 616 And Sir Sampsone hymselfe full savage of his dedys,
(4) that . . . in erthe
MA 219 Fore he was demyd the doughtyeste that duellyde in erthe.
MA 3443 For the doughtyeste that euer was duelland in erthe;
(5) to . . . the soothe / as I tell
MA 3556 Forthy I merkede ouer thees mowntes to mene the the sothe.
G 26
Ay watz Arthur the hendest, as I haf herde telle.
(6) as the book says, etc.
A 881
Sone eftir in a seson, as the duke sais,
Pat 60
I schal wysse yow therwyth as holy wryt telles.
(7) on bent, etc.
MA 1067 that here are brochede on bente and brittened with thi handez,
W 156
The thirde banere one bent es of blee whitte,
Among these seven tags, the sixth pattern, namely the phrase “as the book
says” and similar expressions, are special because these phrases occupy the
entire half-line. In explanation of these seven tags, Oakden shows many
examples for certain patterns while only a few for others. Furthermore, even if
he offers several examples, they tend to be taken from limited sources. This
essay solicits as many as examples from the major alliterative poems of the
fourteenth century in order to provide a comprehensive view of how this phrase
is used under the constraints of alliterative meter.i
Middle English Alliterative Verse
The basic collocation pattern can be postulated as follows: Both the noun
and the verb can lexically vary while other words such as dative pronouns or
modal auxiliaries can be added providing that they would be unstressed and not
receive metrical stress. Though Oakden uses the verb, “say,” in his template,
“tell” is much more frequent:
Second Half Line → as + NOUN + VERB
The following examples are composed in the structure of “as the book tells.”
The collocation pattern of this structure is that “the book” and “tells” occupy the
second half-line in that particular order. The alliteration pattern is shown in
brackets after each example. If the line does not alliterate in the basic [aaax]
pattern, it is marked with an asterisk:
A 17
That was the athill Alexsandire, as the buke tellis, [a-a-b-t]*
A 35
Thus ware thai breued for the best, as the buke tellis; [b-b-b-t]
A 203
Thare thai wrate tham I-wis, as the buke tellis,
[w-w-b-t]*
A 699
Bo3es him vp to a brenke, as the buke tellis,
[b-b-b-t]
A 1242
Ane Beritinus, a berne, as the buke tellis,
[b-b-b-t]
A 1430
Was Balaan the bald berne, as the boke tellis,
[b-b-b-t]
A 1615
And thai meruailed tham mekill, as the buke tellis, [m-m-b-t]*
A 1668
3it bedis he him, the bald kyng, as the buke tellis: [b-b-b-t]
[a-g-b-t]*
A 1691
Ane Ardromacius, a gome, as the buke tellis.
PPB P. 101
To bynde and vnbynde, as the boke telleth,
[b-b-b-t]
[b-b-b-t]
T 167
These balfull bestes were, as the boke tellus,
A 916
The son of ane Cerastis, as the buke witnes.
[s-s-b-w]*
The collocation pattern is a noun followed by a verb though the reverse order is
quite possible as seen in many other lines. It is noteworthy that the base
expression is frequent in The Wars of Alexander but not so in others. Another
significant point is that alliteration in these lines is sometimes corrupt. The ME
alliterative line typically alliterates in the first three stressed syllables. The line
remains alliterative if the first two stressed syllables alliterate with each other,
Middle English Alliterative Verse
and this is the case for A 17, A 203, A 1615, and A 916. Line 1691 sounds quite
deviated due to the lack of alliteration.
All of the three elements—as, the noun, and the verb—may be replaced by
other lexical items. The following is the case in which a different noun is used in
the same structure. Let us consider such a case as one-step replacement.
Examples can be found in most of the poems:ii
MA 274 Couerd it of comons, as cronicles telles.
[k-k-k-t]
MA 3218 Thane this comlyche Kynge, as cronycles tellys,
[k-k-k-t]
[k-k-k-t]
G 643
that Cryst ka3t on the croys, as the crede tellez;
Pat 60
I schal wysse yow therwyth as holy wryt telles.
[w-w-w-t]
PPB 1.128
Ac tho that worche wel, as holiwritt telleth,
[w-w-w-t]
A 1439
And qua sa leddirs had nane, as the lyne tellis,
[l-n-l-t]*
Ages 306 Sir Ectore was everous als the storye telles,
[e-e-s-t]*
Ages 423 In the Olde Testament as the storye tellis,
[o-t-s-t]*
J 826
With the ston o[f] a staf[-slyng] as the storyj telleth [s-s-s-t]
T 922
This stone full of strenght, as the story tellus,
[s-s-s-t]
T 286
To this Journey with Jason, as the gest tellus:
[j-j-j-t]
A 144
And quen he come to that kith, as the chance tellis, [k-k-t∫-t]*
A 885
Litill kyngis thar come, as the clause tellis,
[k-k-k-t]
A 1613
Thare was comen with him kyngis, as the clause tellis, [k-k-k-t]
A 200
All the sawis of thaire Syre, as Siraphis tald,
[s-s-s-t]
[b-b-b-t]
MA 4346 Into Bretayne the Brode, as the Bruytte tellys.
MA 3552 And has wroghte hire with childe, as wittnesse tellis. [w-t∫-w-t]*
A 725
For it was wont,” quod the wee, “as wyse men tellis, [w-w-w-t]
MA 279 Ilkane ayere aftyre other, as awlde men telles;
[a-o-a-t]iii
MA 1251 He drawes into douce Fraunce, as Duchemen tellez, [d-d-d-t]
G 272
Bot if thou be so bold as alle burnez tellen,
[b-b-b-t]
WW 26
Fro he can jangle als a jaye and japes telle,
[j-j-j-t]
T 1027
One Telamon trewly, as the text sayse,
[t-t-t-s]
T 923
Is erdan& in Jude, as Isoder sais:
[e-j-i-s]
A 881
Sone eftir in a seson, as the duke sais,
[s-s-d-s]*
T 154
Beyonde the terage of Troy as the trety sayse,
[t-t-t-s]
Middle English Alliterative Verse
Replacing the noun that conforms to the alliteration sound is a useful device
though several lines, marked with an asterisk above, show only two stressed
syllables alliterating. An interesting case is A 881 in which the verb “sais” does
alliterate with the first two metrical beats. The poets deliberately use these
varying devices in order to avoid the monotonous repetition of regular alliteration
(Kane, 80). As Smith (93) claims, “a framework of modulation between norm and
deviation, linked to literary salience, lies at the heart of alliterative
verse-practice.”
Another one-step replacement is adding a dative pronoun to the base:
A 597
This barne, quen he borne was, as me the boke tellis,
[b-b-b-t]
Adding a dative pronoun to the base structure can be considered a one-step
replacement. If a noun other than “book” is used in order to alliterate in the base
pattern as seen in the following lines, the line undergoes a two-step change:
MA 3501
A 278
A 437
J 108
MA 2399
MA 2876
MA 3006
MA 3200
WW 293
For he es in this empire, as hathell men me telles,
In the first compas I ken, as me the claus tellis,
Thai ere thus mekill to mene, as me my mynd tellis.
And alle thre ben bot one as eldres vs tellen
The lordchipe es louely, as ledes me telles.
In the Vale of Iosephate, as gestes vs telles,
Gas in at the gayneste, as gydes hym telles,
And this roye ryall, as romawns vs tellis,
The more colde es to come, als me a clerke tolde."
[e-h-h-t]
[k-k-k-t]
[m-m-m-t]
[a-o-e-t]
[l-l-l-t]
[v-j-j-t]*
[g-g-g-t]
[r-r-r-t]
[k-k-k-t]
The following lines also have a dative pronoun, but the collocation pattern is
reversed to a verb plus a noun in addition to the replacement of the word “book,”
which can be considered three-step replacement:
A 1485
T 1619
The ni3t eftir the note, as tellis me the writtes,
In that Cite for sothe, as saith vs the story,
[n-n-t-w]*
[s-s-s-s]
Middle English Alliterative Verse
A 709
Vnethis werped he that worde, the writt me recordis, [w-w-w-r]
Another two-step replacement is the line that contains a different noun and a
different verb in the base collocation pattern:
Ages 240 And lepis upe one the lefte syde als the laghe askes. [l-l-l-a]
[d-d-d-a]
G 1327
And didden hem derely vndo as the dede askez;
A 1500
Raueste all on a raw, as 3oure rewill askis.
[r-r-r-a]
G 530
And wynter wyndez a3ayn, as the worlde askez,
[w-w-w-a]
[w-w-w-a]
MA 2187 Wirke nowe thi wirchipe, as the worlde askes,
MA 2385 Gud Sir Cador at Came, as his kynde askes.
[k-k-k-a]
PPB p.19 Worchyng and wandryng, as the worlde asketh.
[w-w-w-a]
PPB p.120
To tilie and to trauaile, as trewe lyf asketh.
[t-t-t-a]
G 1999
the day dryuez to the derk, as Dry3tyn biddez;
[d-d-d-d-b]
MA 1590 And kend hym to the constable, alls the Kynge byddez;
[k-k-k-b]
MA 1617 Now bownes the Bretons, als the Kynge byddez,
[b-b-k-b]*
C 843
That we may lere hym of lof, as oure lyst biddez,
[l-l-l-b]
A 608
And he wald-e3ed was, as the writt schewys,
[w-w-w-∫]
J 970
To be lord ouer that lond as this letres speketh
[l-l-l-s]
T 416
All thies Japes ho enioynit as Gentils beleued,
[j-j-j-b]
MA 1617 shows irregular alliteration. If the phrase “the Kynge byddez” were
reversed to “byddez the Kynge,” the alliteration would be a regular [b-b-b-k].
The Morte Arthure poet sometimes uses irregular patterns in a deliberate manner
again to avoid a monotonous rhythm.
Other replacement patterns, though not very frequent, are as follows:
Replacement of “as” (one-step replacement):
PPB 5.491 And al for the best, as I bileue, what euere the boke telleth,
[b-b-b-t]
Replacement of “book” and without “as” (two-step replacement):
A 940
Than comes Alexander in that cas, the cronaclis tellis,
Middle English Alliterative Verse
[k-a-k-k-t]*
Replacement of “as,” “book,” and “tell” (three-step replacement):
PPB 1.072
That such wise wordes, of holy writ shewed; [w-w-w-∫]
A 1592
This title, Tetragramaton, for so the text tellis.
[t-t-t-t]
There is a significant difference regarding the common positions for “tell”
and “say.” “Tell” tends to appear at the line conclusion receiving full metrical
stress whereas “say” often appears before or after the first beat of the line. In
such cases the verb “say” does not receive metrical stress and is realized as a
metrical offbeat. In the following examples, “says” does not seem to be a
metrical beat except for E 277:
[3-3-3-r]
Sais, "3are the now 3apely, or 3ild vp thi rewme;
For sais 3our lord, the lefe hen, that laide hir first egg,
[l-l-l-e]
E 277
For as he says in his sothe psalmyde writtes:
[s-s-s-w]
MA 554 "Bee estyre," sais the Emperour, "I ettyll my selfen [e-e-e-s]
MA 1566 Sir Knyghte," sais the Conquerour, "so me Criste helpe,
[k-k-k-h]
MA 1692 "Sir Kyng," sais Sir Clegys, "full knyghttly thow askez;
[k-k-k-a]
Pat 65
'Rys radly,' He says, 'and rayke forth euen;
[r-r-r-e]
[j-j-j-i]
T 830
Sais, “ Jason, this Jorney is no ioye in,
WW 325 Sayse, "this es spedles speche to speken thies wordes.
[s-s-s-w]
WW 457 Says, "Blynnes, beryns, of youre brethe and of youre brode
worde,
[b-b-b-b-w]
A 80
A 893
When the phrase, “the book says,” appears in places other than the line end,
“says” does not receive metrical stress, which shows a significant difference
from the line in which the phrase occupies the entire second half-line:
A 192
The buke sais, of blake stane, all the bode ouyre,
[b-b-b-o]
Middle English Alliterative Verse
A 1080
A 1371
A 1376
A 1712
C 657
Of ilka bild, sais the buke, barred was the 3atis,
[b-b-b-3]
And band hire, as the buke sais, bigly to-gedire,
[b-b-b-g]
Than was the wallis, sais the writt, of the wale touris.
[w-w-w-t]
First a ball, says the buke, the barne with to play,
[b-b-b-p]
For sothely, as says the wryt, he wern of sadde elde, [s-s-s-e]
In order for both “book” and “says” receive metrical stress and function as
metrical beats, the phrase must appear in the second half-line.
The lexical items that can replace “book” and “tells” are as follows:
BOOK: the gest(es); the lyne; romawns; the storye; the text
the clause; the crede; cronicles; Dry3tyn; holy wryt; the trety
the writtes
Siraphis; the Bruytte; Isoder; Kynge
alle burnez; awlde men; a clerke; Duchemen; the duke; eldres
hathell men; wittnesse; wyse men
the chance ; the dede; gydes; a jaye and japes; his kynde
the laghe; ledes
this letres; oure lyst; my mynd; 3oure rewill; trewe lyf; the worlde
TELLS: askes; byddez; recordis; sayse; shewed; schewys; speketh; tolde
From these variations it is evident that the poet refers to the common source,
usually the original source assumed by the poet and the audience, the religious
authority, the political authority, or social witnesses. This means that the poet
tries to establish the credibility of his tale by referring to the source that is
assumed powerful and reliable. This narrator’s use of reporting speech for
assurance and insinuation is known as “narrative report of speech acts” (Freeborn,
223; Leech and Short, 257-87). As Fabb (265) asserts, “while the dissociation of
the speaker and the attribution of a thought to a third party may be a means of
communicating that the thought is untrue, it may also be a means of guaranteeing
the truth of the thought.” In the context of ME alliterative verse the reported style
Middle English Alliterative Verse
may have served to strengthen the credibility of the narrative and its circulation in
the outer world (Fabb, 263-67).
The examples below are similar to “as the book tells,” but the subject is
first-person singular, namely, the speaker himself or herself. The noun is replaced
by “I”; yet, the collocation pattern remains in the basic Noun plus Verb pattern,
which is a two-step replacement:
T 980
T 1416
T 1716
T 1906
T 1954
T 682
When it turnyt to the tyme as I told ere,
When the Cite was sesit, as I said ere,
And touchet his entent, as I telle shall.Bothe reynit in that Rem, as I red first.
Euyn fairly by fourme, as I firste said.
And sent to that semly, as ho said first.
The following is a further replacement case:
A 24
The wysest wees of the werd, as I in writt fynd.
[t-t-t-e]
[s-s-s-e]
[t-t-t-∫]
[r-r-r-f]
[f-f-f-s]
[s-s-s-f]
[w-w-w-f]
The following lines include the verb “hear” while the subject is the first-person.
Oakden lists this pattern as the fifth item of tags, but it may be considered a
three-step replacement of the sixth group:
G 26
Ay watz Arthur the hendest, as I haf herde telle.
[a-h-h-t]
[t-t-t-h]
G 31
I schal telle hit as-tit, as I in toun herde,
G 1144
A hundreth of hunteres, as I haf herde telle,
[h-h-h-t]
A 366
For may thou hald me this hest, as thou here tellis, [h-h-h-t]
PPB p.164 And otherwhile thei aren elles-where, as I here telle. [o-e-h-t]
Another variation is the phrase of “tell the truth”:
Ages 103 And whate I seghe in my saule the sothe I schall telle.
[s-s-s-t]
Ages 159 Totheles and tenefull, I tell yowe for sothe;
[t-t-t-s]
Ages 501 And whatt selcouthes he see the sothe scholde he telle.
Middle English Alliterative Verse
[s-s-s-t]
Ages 650 I am thi sire and thou my sone, the sothe for to telle, [s-s-s-t]
A 463
“To quam has thou the tane till, tell m[e] the sothe? [t-t-t-s]
A 515
Beso3t him quat it sygnified, to tell him the treuthe. [s-s-t-t]*
A 729
“Sa ma aydeus,” quod that othire man, “thou tellis me treuthe,
[a-o-t-t]*
WW 17
Bot whoso sadly will see and the sothe telle,
[s-s-s-t]
WW 181 Whitte als the whalles bone, whoso the sothe tellys, [w-w-s-t]*
WW 221 "Now certys, lorde," sayde that one, "the sothe for to telle,
[s-l-s-s-t]
[e-a-a-t]
T 517
Ercules of armes, and auntres to telle
T 526
Will ye suffer me to say, and the sothe telle?
[s-s-s-t]
T 1610
In Ensample of this Cite, sothely to telle,
[s-s-s-t]
Lines that have the conjunction “as” in the middle other than the phrase “as
the book tells” reveal another special metrical feature. The structure that
introduces a subordinate clause in the second half-line is one of the devices that
many ME alliterative poets utilize. The conjunction can introduce other types of
subordinate clauses:
A 1521
Ages 400
C 1726
E 316
G 73
J 54
MA 55
PPA 5. 71
PPB P. 29
T 500
Pat 340
And then he caggis vp on cordis, as curteyns it were, [k-k-k-w]
Thare he was dede of a drynke, as dole es to here,
[d-d-d-h]
[f-f-f-l]
By vch fygure, as I fynde, as oure Fader lykes:
By Goddes leue, as longe as I my3t lacche water,
[l-l-l-w]
[b-b-b-b-s]
The best burne ay abof, as hit best semed,
Cloudes clateren gon as they cleue wolde
[k-k-k-w]
In Bretayn the Braddere, as hym beste lykes.
[b-b-b-l]
I mi3e not many day do as a man au3te,
[m-m-m-a]
Delited hym in drynke as the deuel wolde,
[d-d-d-w]
Till it fell hir by fortune, as I fynd here,
[f-f-f-h]
And ther he brakez vp the buyrne as bede hym oure Lorde.
[b-b-b-l]
Middle English Alliterative Verse
These examples suggest that the clause introduced by “as” in the second
half-line can be a common structure though lexical combinations in each
occasion may differ. This suggests the habitual use of particular collocations of
words (Lawrence; Moriya, “Habitual Collocations”). Adding a clause that
remains in a different hierarchy level in the grammatical structure may have
been a useful device because the syntactic boundary prior to the final beat easily
creates a pause. The structure of the alliterative line encourages the poets to
build their half-lines around established collocations in a predictable way
especially toward the end of the line that is free from the alliteration constraint
(Moriya, “Vertical Alliteration”). Turville-Petre’s observation (88) that the
underlying structure of the first half-line is lexical while that of the second
half-line is syntactic has been demonstrated in the examples provided above. It
is indeed amazing that the poets do not rely on ready-made phrases but carefully
chose varying sets of words for different lines. Alliterative verse, in other words,
is not made up of prefabricated units for composition. But ME alliterative poems
utilize similar lexical collocations in a similar metrical context in addition to
simple alliteration. These collocation patterns seem to play a more subtle but
important role than ready-made phrases. As Turville-Petre asserts, “it is a
striking feature of the alliterative style that words are paired and grouped
together in a predictable way, and that as a result one line often recalls lines from
other poems” (83).
i
The corpora used for this analysis and their abbreviations are: Excerpts from
The Wars of Alexander (A), 2005 lines; The Parlement of the Thre Ages (Ages),
661 lines; Cleanness (C),1812 lines; Saint Erkenwald (E), 352 lines; Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight (G), 2020 lines; The Siege of Jerusalem (J), 1234 lines;
The Alliterative Morte Arthure (MA), 4346 lines; Patience (Pat), 531 lines;
Excerpts from Piers Plowman, A Text (PPA), 1180 lines; Excerpts from Piers
Plowman, B Text (PPB), 1030 lines; Excerpts from The Destruction of Troy (T),
3531 lines; Wynnere and Wastoure (W), 503 lines.
ii
One of the special features of ME alliterative verse is that the combination of a
short adjective and a noun may be flexible regarding the place of alliteration.
The compound stress rule, which regards the combination of a short adjective
Middle English Alliterative Verse
and a noun as a compound, operates in order to achieve common alliteration
patterns. Thus, “holy wryt” in Pat 60 and PPB 1. 128 behaves as a compound
while “wyse men,” “hathell men,” “awlde men”, etc. in examples used later in
this essay receive metrical stress where the alliteration sound falls. See Moriya
“Natural Speech Rhythm” and “Review of Minkova.”
iii
Vowels are supposed to alliterate with any vowel or /h/. This line, thus,
fulfills the alliteration requirement in a satisfactory manner. The same is true for
T 923.
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